BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The first pitch of the 2021 Conference USA Softball Championship was delivered Wednesday afternoon at the WKU Softball Complex in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The league’s top eight teams are battling for an automatic NCAA bid this week in a four-day tournament that culminates in the title game at noon CT Saturday on CBS Sports Network.
 
Wednesday saw four single-elimination games played with No. 3 seed Charlotte and No. 4 seed WKU advancing out of the first round. Thursday marked the start of the tournament’s double-elimination portion. No. 1 North Texas and No. 2 UAB punched their tickets to the winner’s bracket semifinal, while the 49ers and Hilltoppers fell into the consolation round. All games leading up to the championship will be broadcast on ESPN+. Coverage of the tournament, including live stat and video links are available on conferenceusa.com’s Softball Championship Central page.

Game 9: (4) WKU 4, (1) North Texas 2 | Box Score
 
No. 4 seed WKU tore through Friday’s loser’s bracket, upsetting No. 3 Charlotte and stunning C-USA Regular Season Champion North Texas to reach the C-USA Championship title game for the first time since 2015. It also marks the first season since 2011 that the conference tournament host has appeared in the final.
 
The Hilltoppers (30-13) upended the 49ers 3-2 to start the day, and dug deep to upset the No. 1-seeded Mean Green (38-12) 4-2 with the game-clinching runs coming in the sixth and seventh innings.
 
Junior Shelby Nunn, who collected the save in the team’s first outing, went the distance in the nightcap to tally her 11^th win of the season. The right-hander held North Texas to one earned run on two hits with a pair of strikeouts through all seven innings. 
 
Sophomore Kennedy Sullivan picked up where she left off in game one of the loser’s bracket doubleheader. A homer to right-center field scratched a run on the board early and tied her for the team lead in the category this season (12).
 
North Texas responded in the bottom of the third inning and took advantage of two WKU defensive errors to even the score. Freshman Mikayla Smith reached on a fielder’s choice and made it around when fellow newcomer Lexi Cobb forced a bobbled ground ball to shortstop. Freshman Kailey Gamble took it into her own hands to take the lead with a home run powered in the bottom of the fourth, her third overall on the year.
 
WKU not only tied the game, but regained the lead in the sixth inning as senior Paige Carter drew a walk to get things going before sophomore Jordan Ridge tore a triple to the right side to even the action. A batter later, junior Kendall Smith sent a fly ball to left field deep enough to get Ridge home. An RBI single from sophomore pinch hitter Princess Valencia added the insurance run in the top of the seventh.

Game 8: (4) WKU 3, (3) Charlotte 2 | Box Score
 
A slim 3-2 victory helped No. 4 WKU survive and advance past No. 3 Charlotte in the tournament’s first consolation contest on Friday. The Hilltoppers will quickly turn to No. 1 seed North Texas in the nightcap with a trip to the championship game on the line.
 
Sophomore Kennedy Sullivan did it all for WKU (29-13). The utility boosted her record (9-0) in 6.1 innings of work, dishing an earned run on six hits, five strikeouts and four walks. She also went 1-for-4 with an RBI at the plate. Junior Shelby Nunn picked up the save with no more than one walk offered in her seventh-inning appearance.
 
A throwing error was responsible for WKU’s first run in the top of the third. Senior Paige Carter drew a walk to lead things off, was advanced on a sacrifice bunt and came home on an overthrown ground ball hit by Sullivan. The Tops later made it a 2-0 ballgame in the fifth when Sullivan laced an RBI double down the left field line.
 
An RBI single from sophomore Jordan Ridge in the seventh frame helped WKU’s lead withstand a dramatic bottom half. Charlotte (31-19) sophomore Cori Henderson singled with one out to send in its first run before a pitching change was made. C-USA Player of the Year Bailey Vannoy was then intentionally walked to load the bases, and a second run followed on a passed ball. A two-out infield fly would strand a pair of runners and shut the door on the comeback.

Game 7: (2) UAB 2, (1) North Texas 1 | Box Score
 
No. 2 seed UAB remains the only C-USA team to defeat regular season champion North Texas in 2021 after upsetting the No. 1-seeded Mean Green 2-1 to secure a spot in Saturday’s Championship. North Texas will face the winner of No. 3 Charlotte and No. 4 WKU at 5 p.m. in the loser’s bracket with an opportunity to avenge the loss.
 
UAB (31-18) served North Texas (38-11) its first and only two losses in conference play this year when the Blazers swept the series-opening doubleheader in Denton on April 2.
 
The two teams, tops of the conference in ERA, combined for just seven hits on the day. Senior Analyse Petree proved to be the difference maker in the box, going 2-for-3 and plating both runs for UAB.
 
Junior right-hander Amy Woodham collected her ninth-straight win and second in less than 24 hours after tossing a 5-2 victory over Charlotte Thursday night. Woodham dealt one earned run on two hits with three strikeouts in her five innings. Sophomore Sarah Cespedes also notched her second save of the tournament with just one hit allowed in her two frames of work.
 
Petree led off the top of UAB’s second inning with her eighth home run of the year to give her squad a 1-0 lead. The Blazers doubled their advantage in the top of the sixth when the senior first baseman delivered an RBI single up the middle following Faith Hegh’s single with one out.
 
North Texas showed signs of life in the sixth inning when C-USA Newcomer of the Year Tuesday DeMargosian doubled to score a leadoff walk from pinch hitter Maia Wark. Cespedes immediately put a stop to the rally and pitched two-straight pop ups to end the inning.